River Dodder Stepping Stones

The stepping stones are currently:

Crossable

The water level is low. It is safe to cross!

Latest water height measurement at 09.30 on 2024-12-05 is 0.184 metres.

What is this?

This page aims to help predict whether the stepping stones over the River Dodder near to Dodder View Road in Rathfarnham are crossable based upon the river's current water level.

Flooded stepping stones with water flowing over the top of them

NOTE: This photo is not a live view of the steps!

The OPW (Office of Public Works) has a water level meter approx 1.4km downstream at Waldon's Bridge on Orwell Road. Based on the data available from this indicator, I make a prediction on whether the stepping stones upstream are crossable or flooded.

Why do this?

These stepping stones are a popular way for pedestrians from Rathfarnham and Churchtown to access Bushy Park in Terenure.

When it rains and the river level rises, these stepping stones become flooded and uncrossable. It's not possible to tell from a distance if the water is too high, and a lot of people end up walking to the river crossing, find it flooded, and then face the prospect of a 10 minute detour to the nearest bridge across the river and into the park.

This page aims to give people an indication when the stepping stones are flooded before they get there, and enable them to make alternate journey plans!

How accurate is this?

It's a prediction based upon the water level on a different section of the river, and so I make no guarantees about the accuracy of the tool.

However, I have observed a few times that the water is skimming over the top of the stepping stones when the water level at Waldon's Bridge is recorded as 0.25 metres. And so this tool is currently set to say the stepping stones are:

  • Crossable - under 0.21m
  • Crossable with care - between 0.21m and 0.25m
  • Flooded - over 0.25m

If you have any observations or comments on how to improve this page, or just want to say hello, then please do feel free to get in contact.

Where is the data from?

This page contains Irish Public Sector Information licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence (source http://waterlevel.ie - provided by the Office of Public Works.)

How can I be alerted when the stepping stones are flooded?

Dublin City Council has a River High Alerts feature where you can subscribe to receive an email when the Waldron's Bridge sensor goes over a certain height. If you set it to alert you when it goes over 0.2 meters then that will tell you when it's flooded.